According to WSB-TV, other passengers were scheduled to be on flight 2426 but because of the flight being delayed a couple of times, they decided to take an earlier flight or postpone until the next day.

“At first, I felt really bad, because I didn’t want the plane to only make the trip because of me,” he told WSB-TV. “But after talking to a flight attendant at the gate, she said the plane needed to go back to Atlanta anyway. She called this an empty leg flight.”

Schneider said the flight attendant told him she'd never seen something like this in 17 years.

WSB-TV reached out to Delta, which issued the following statement:

"We're glad this customer enjoyed a somewhat rare solo experience. Other customers were accommodated on an earlier departure. The reason we operated the flight was so this customer could have that airplane positioned back in Atlanta so it could be in place for a departure the next day."